


Go It Alone

by Epiphanyx7



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Coming of Age, Community: cliche_bingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-21
Updated: 2009-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-16 20:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epiphanyx7/pseuds/Epiphanyx7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"<em>I don't care what this test is," Ken said fiercely. "Because I'm going to pass it, I'm going to prove my merit to you -- and then I'm going to get my friend back," and saying it out loud really did make him feel better</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Go It Alone

**Author's Note:**

> [[Written for Cliché Bingo 2009. Cliché: Coming-of-Age ]] My roommate mentioned that one of the stages in a child-character's epic journey into adulthood is when their mentor dies/is gone, and they are forced to face the final battle alone. This is probably not what most people would consider coming-of-age, but I always thought that emotional maturity, determination, and responsibility were slightly more important than meaningless checkpoints along the road to adulthood. And yes, this is fanfiction written based on one episode of a tv show I watched for the first time a week ago.

"Prove myself," Ken muttered to himself, squashing the urge to like, kick a rock. He gave in after a moment, lightly tapping a stone with his toe and watching as it flew off into the distance. "Right, I'll just -- prove myself," and then he swallowed around the giant lump that formed in his throat, because how in the holy heck was he supposed to do that?

He crossed all four of his arms in front of his chest, taking a deep breath and letting it out as slowly as he dared. Okay. Right. So, he wasn't totally screwed or anything. He had his Omnitrix, which was good. His dad would be proud of him for managing to keep a hold of it. The other thing he had was his brain, which wasn't exactly his best asset at the moment.

Touching his Omnitrix, he phased back to his normal self and sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and resting his head on his hands. Okay, so this entire thing was supposed to like, test his merit. And while he wasn't entirely sure what merit was, he knew for a fact that the aliens hadn't been killing when they said that they were going to kill Devlin if he didn't pass their test - and that -- that---

Ken swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying to ignore the way that his chest felt all achy and whatever. It wasn't helping, and he really didn't want to like, _cry_ or something. The aliens were probably watching. They'd think he was pathetic.

But Devlin was his best friend, and Ben just couldn't let them kill him. He couldn't, he couldn't let that --

He sucked in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. He was not going to cry like some kid, he was eleven years old, and he was going to pass their dumb test and rescue Devlin. "I'm not going to let you kill him," he said out loud, hoping that the aliens were watching. "Do you hear me? I'm not," and then he started toward the mouth of the cave where the test was supposed to start. When he got to the entrance, he looked at the creepy, tiny dark space that he was going to have to travel through. And then he thought about Devlin, who was probably alone and scared and pissed off at the aliens. He was probably worried about Ben.

"I don't care what this test is," Ken said fiercely. "Because I'm going to pass it, I'm going to prove my merit to you -- and then I'm going to get my friend back," and saying it out loud really _did_ make him feel better. He walked into the cave, footsteps determined, letting the darkness swallow him.

Pausing just inside, Ken touched the screen of his Omnitrix.

-

He couldn't help that he was crying, and he didn't even care because -- _Devlin_. Ken grabbed his friend's hand, willing him to live again, willing him to move or breathe or...

"Come on," He said. "Devlin, please, you can't die, you _can't_ ," his voice all high and squeaky because he was _crying_ , fat tears running down his cheeks. "Devlin, wake up," but Devlin wasn't moving at all. Ken wrapped his hands around his friend's arms and rested his head on Devlin's shoulder and wailed, loud messy hiccuping sobs and his tears soaking into the fabric of Devlin's shirt. He couldn't do anything else, he just kept crying and crying - Devlin was his best friend, he was his best friend in the whole galaxy, and it was totally _Ken's fault_ that he'd died. It wasn't fair, it wasn't _fair_ , and he found himself mouthing the words into Devlin's shoulder, no sounds escaping from his mouth at all.

"That's - that's not fair," He finally choked out, looking up at the panel of alien judges. "That's not fair, you shouldn't have _\--- how could you_?"

"You failed the test," The alien in charge said. He was all grey and blurry, which was probably because Ken's eyes were still full of tears. "We told you that--"

"And it's a dumb rule!" Ken yelled. "I'm the one who failed! I'm the one who wasn't good enough! Devlin didn't do anything wrong!"  


"The punishment for failure is--"

"It's not a fair punishment," Ken said, getting angrier by the second. He was still crying, but the tears weren't stopping him from speaking. "You're not punishing _me_ \- you're not being fair to him. Did Devlin get to take your stupid test, huh? Did he get to test _his_ merit? What if he was the one who would've passed it?"

The aliens were still as they looked at him. "That is inconsequential,"

"It's _important_!" He shouted. "Devlin's better than me, he's always been good and not selfish and he tries to help people and he's totally awesome, he's my _best friend_. And you killed him, and it's my fault, and ---" his voice broke and he started to cry again, holding Devlin's body closer as he rocked back and forth. "It's not fair," Ken sobbed. "It's not fair."

"He would not have passed the test," The alien leader said. "He would have failed. And then you would have died."

" _So what?_ " Ken asked, looking up, his voice sounding soggy and indistinct. "So _what_ if I would have died? Devlin would be okay."

"Is that an acceptable outcome to you?" The alien figure asked. "Would you have us reverse our decision and have your friend take the test, knowing that he would fail and the result would be your own death?"

"Yes," Ken said without hesitation. "I would. I really would. Want me to push the button on the time machine? I'll do it," even though the small tiny bead of hope in his chest was being pummeled down by the certainty that the aliens were just messing with his mind out of cruelty. Devlin was _dead_.

"You would give up your life--"

"I  _know_ ," Ken interrupted. "You don't have to keep saying what it means, I get it, okay? I totally will. I don't care what you want me to do, as long as Devlin is okay, all right? I don't care what happens to me, I want him to be alive, I want him to be unhurt. _I don't care if you kill me as long as Devlin gets to live_."

"Ah," The alien said. "That is the truth."

Well, duh, Ken thought miserably. Of course it's the truth.

"You have proven your worth," It said, then, nodding. "You have passed the test."

But he'd already failed the test, Ken opened his mouth to say, and then the room went all wavery and weird, and then he was sitting in an empty room, the alien the only other thing there. The rest of the alien council was gone, and Devlin's body too. "What's going on?" Ken asked, his heart beating a kajillion times a minute in terror. "Where's Devlin -- what did you do?"

And then Devlin was running into the room through the door, tackling Ken to the ground in an overly enthusiastic, too-tight hug. Ken didn't even mind the part where he was being crushed by the other boy's weight, or the part where Devlin was calling him a stupid idiotic moronic dumbass, because Devlin was warm and breathing and alive. Ken hugged him back, wrapping his arms all the way around Devlin's stupid skinny shoulders and gasping in relief, tears still sliding down his cheeks and landing wet on Devlin's neck.

"You're an _idiot_ ," Devlin muttered, his face buried in the hollow of Ken's throat. "You're like, the stupidest idiot to ever be idiotic, I'm not even joking, what is _wrong_ with you."

And Ken just grinned at him, happy that he hadn't failed, happy that Devlin was safe. "Shut _up_ ," He said affectionately, holding on to his best friend and ignoring the alien asshats that were like, pretending to be sorry about making him think Devlin had died. "I'm totally not sorry--"

"Well I would have made them bring you back," Devlin said. "I wouldn't have let them kill you either," and his voice cracked a little bit as well, when he said it.

The Omnitrix beeped, Ken blinked and realized that one of the aliens had stepped back - it had been programming another form into the matrix. Probably their own. And sure, it would be kind of cool to be able to like, create walls of illusion and stuff, but then again Ken didn't want anything to do with these weird-o aliens that messed with his mind and made him see his best friend die.

"Can we go?" He asked, holding on to Devlin as tight as he could, still terrified that they would be separated. "Are we done here?" They turned to walk away without waiting for a response, hurrying as fast as they could.

-

His dad listened to the whole story without interrupting even once, so Ken was all nervous and jittery at the end. He didn't lie about anything, didn't even gloss over the parts he knew his dad would be angry about, like when he'd swore, and when he'd totally messed up and Devlin had been taken away. Ken could see his father's face going pale and his hands clenching into fists when he talked about their tests, and how he'd broken down the rock wall and then the aliens had said that was cheating. He hadn't even lied about how they'd killed Devlin in front of him, and he'd even left in the parts where he'd cried and stuff.

"I'm sorry I didn't get back here in time," His dad said, finally.

Ken nodded and looked at the ground. He knew it wasn't his dad's fault - policing the galaxy was an important job. And if Ben had left to go rescue his kid, then the whole galaxy would have been in deep trouble. Lots of people could have died.

"Ken," Ben said. "I just want to say, I know that you don't really think things through most times,"

And here it comes, Ken thought dismally, the lecture on me being stupid and reckless, just like always. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, determined to let his dad yell at him all he wanted.

"I'm really proud of you, son," Ben said.

Ken stared at him, because that's not how the lecture started at all, but his dad didn't look like he was lecturing. He didn't even look angry, he just looked kind of - sad. And he wasn't saying anything else. "What?" Ken mumbled.

"I'm proud of you," Ben repeated, and then he leaned forward, ruffling Ken's hair. "I just-- I guess I never realized that you were growing up so fast," he said, and then he shook his head and let his hand fall back down to his side.

-  



End file.
